


Just Dancing

by keds



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, jonsa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 15:02:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11946729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keds/pseuds/keds
Summary: It had been so long since she let herself kiss like this, let herself be kissed like this.





	Just Dancing

            Sansa was drawn to the music, which is why when she and Margaery ran toward the club on a Friday night, she felt her muscles twitching to the beat before they had even turned the street corner.  “Wait up!” Margaery called behind her, trying to catch up. “Run faster!” Sansa returned, laughing at the face Margaery made at her.

            When Margaery brought Sansa to her first dance class of her junior year of college, Ned and Catelyn had been so grateful. Their daughter had turned from the ghost of herself back to the smiling and bright girl she was before she dated Joffrey. Margaery hated using the word “ruined” when it came to people, but Sansa for a time had seemed ruined. She withdrew into her work and her dorm, rarely going out like they used to. She started wearing only long sleeves and pants to hide the bruises she had been collecting from Joffrey. When they finally broke up over Sansa refusing to transfer schools with him, Margaery had been hopeful that things would return to normal. She was wrong; Sansa seemed even more hollow than before, flinching at loud noises and hating being out past dark. Margaery had missed her best friend who was snarky but at the end of the day considerate enough to always check in before bed. The dancing suggestion had been a last ditch effort on Margaery’s part to give Sansa something to hold onto, to make something hers again. And Margaery had tried over and over to find something that Sansa could claim, everything from indulgent girls’ weekends to running away to some beautiful forgotten Essos country, hiding away until they felt like returning home. For some reason, dancing seemed to click with Sansa’s mind.

            Margaery and Sansa’s parents attended her first recital her senior year and never had they been more proud of Sansa. Margaery was even more so than when Sansa punched a groper at a party; her parents’ previous proudest memory was when she graduated valedictorian of her high school. She danced gracefully, every move executed with purposeful precision. Now having graduated from college, Sansa still taught classes two nights a week while working on her masters degree in graphic design.

            “I hope Dany is deejaying tonight.” Sansa peered over the heads of the people in line, trying to spot their friend who often deejayed at this club.

            “Maybe – or maybe it’ll be that new guy Quentyn!” Margaery loved the Dornish DJs for reasons Sansa couldn’t understand. Sansa loved Dany’s Essos influence to the Westerosi genre. It had so many different beats that there was never a dull moment. When the two women were finally let into the club, Dany’s unique beats were pounding through the speakers. Sansa grinned broadly at Margaery as she went to buy a drink. It was their tradition that the person who guessed that night’s DJ had to buy the first round of drinks.

            After handing Sansa her gin and tonic, the two women scanned the room while sipping their drinks. It was mostly full, a good crowd. Basically everyone who wasn’t at the bar was dancing, and Sansa recognized many people from high school and college, including her own brother, Robb, and his friends Theon and Jon. At the sight of the dark curly-haired man standing between Robb and Theon, Sansa’s heart twitched just a bit. She hadn’t seen him since he had gone gallivanting with the extreme sports group, the Wildlings, and camped above the Wall for months on end. The Wildlings practically lived above the Wall, organizing trips up there with amateurs and serious survivalists alike. Jon had always wanted to lead these trips; she heard him say so many times when she was a kid.

            The Stark children and Jon Snow grew up along side each other, as their parents were all good friends from their time in school. Sansa’s parents, Catelyn and Ned, always helped take care of Jon when his single-mom, Lyanna, was away for work. Jon was a scrawny, scrappy kid who was always falling and getting hurt, but he kept up with Robb, who loved having a boy his age to play with. Sansa usually kept her distance – she liked playing inside with her dolls and friends – but it was hard to keep her distance when the Starks and Snows had weekly dinners and shared holidays together.

            Margaery nudged her when she, too, spotted the trio of men standing at the edge of the dance floor. She always loved to tease Sansa about her “trysts” with the Snow boy. Almost every weekend before he left on that ridiculous camping trip, they’d be in this same club dancing away to whatever the DJ was playing. Robb was usually far too drunk by the time Jon and Sansa found each other that he usually laughed off the fact that his best friend and baby sister were dancing, but Margaery always helped push her towards Jon when he approached. Sansa never talked about it, but Margaery was her best friend. Sansa couldn’t lie to her as much as she could keep the light from her eyes when he inevitably approached her from the bar. It had been quite the pattern, though, where he would never actually talk to her before or after the night – only when they danced did he interact with her. Margaery always complained about how he didn’t make sense and she could never figure it out, whether he just wanted to dance with Sansa or if he was too chickenshit to start a conversation. Sansa certainly hadn’t reached that point yet in her recovery to pursue anything too serious, so Margaery couldn’t be sure.

            The two women eventually made their way to the boys, on their second drinks at this point. Robb hugged Sansa tightly, a huge grin across his face. Sansa smiled back, knowing how relieved her brother had been to see her going out again. They were only two years apart, and he had been the first person to take her to the club and give her a first taste of alcohol. He had missed his sister and her up-for-anything attitude. Sansa had known the pain she had caused him and always felt guilty when she wouldn’t go out with him and his friends. She knew that he had missed Margaery too - not that he would ever admit it. He always thought she was too good for him.

            Shots were passed around and then Sansa and Margaery skipped to the dance floor. The goal was usually to get as sweaty and tired as they could while dancing, but they had their silly moments too. Sansa would perform classical moves to the fast beats while Margaery loved robot dancing. Sometimes they danced slowly to fast songs, just to laugh at how ridiculous they were being. Tonight, though, they were mostly serious just losing themselves in the music. Sweaty and thirsty after just a few songs, they went back to the bar for another drink. Sansa felt lightheaded from the drinks and the dancing, but it couldn’t compare to the jump her heart gave when she saw Jon finally, _finally_ , walking toward her. Tonight he had a hard look in his eyes, one she hadn’t seen before, but she forgot it as soon as he put his arm around her and pulled her close. “Dance with me, Sansa.” She could only nod and glance at Margaery whose eyes widened at the use of her full name instead of the “San” nickname he usually called her. Then he guided her by her lower back to the dance floor before Sansa could think anything else.

            They started dancing in the middle of a song but Sansa couldn’t pay attention to the individual lyrics, just the beat and the feel of Jon behind her. He suddenly surrounded her and she realized how much she missed his smell, how much she missed the feel of his hands on her body. It had been weeks since they last danced, so the first few songs felt as though they had to reacquaint themselves.

            Sansa put her hands above her head to caress his neck and play with his hair while he nuzzled her at her nape, gripping her hips tightly. Then it was his turn to run his hands lightly up and down her body. He tickled her hands and fingers with his own before returning to her hips, her ribs, her breasts. Sansa leaned her head back and moaned and as she did he whispered, “Sansa,” in her ear before putting his lips on her neck. He had always called her San – she always assumed he wanted her to be another Stark brother he could roughhouse with, or he didn’t want to think of her as being a _her_. This sudden change confused and excited her equally.

            By this time they had found their rhythm and she found it easier to ignore everything around them. She wasn’t sure where Margaery or Robb were – hopefully finally dancing together – but she also didn’t care. She was surrounded by Jon and she wouldn’t ever leave the moment if she had her way. The lightheartedness she felt, the giddiness in her head from smiling and laughing and sighing and moaning from the dancing; she hadn’t felt these emotions since she first met Joffrey freshman year and he treated her like a princess. Since she discovered dance and started dancing with Jon, she ached for the feeling of dancing with someone constantly. And even then, she only truly felt happy dancing with him. Sometimes with the flashing lights, the dark moments usually lasting longer than the bright, she couldn’t see his face and couldn’t tell it was actually Jon she was leaning into. Instead she focused on the strong hands and body of someone was holding her, cradling her in his arms; it felt like someone who wouldn’t, who _couldn’t_ hurt her, and in those moments, she was free.

            Sansa then broke the moment to go get a drink and was surprised when Jon followed her. Usually at this point he’d go outside to smoke with the boys or the night would be over. She ordered him a beer and her third gin and tonic while he toyed with her long red hair hanging down her back. She thought maybe he was missing his ex-girlfriend, Ygritte, who broke up with him a few years ago to work full time with the Wildlings. Her red hair always stood out at the club, maybe like Sansa’s did now, but she had only hung out with her a few times before Joffrey started keeping her home - more and more bruises started becoming harder to cover in her club outfits. Whatever the reason, Sansa couldn’t help but wonder what was going through his mind.

 

            Usually Jon understood himself but was hard to read by others. Tonight, however, he couldn’t understand his actions either. He always danced with San, but he felt _different_ tonight. There was something about the lighting, or maybe he was drinking too much. Either way, Sansa’s otherworldly blue eyes were drawing him in and it wasn’t long before his heart rate met up with his racing thoughts.

            He knew he had been gone for too long, he thought, focusing on the dark drink in his hands. Ygritte had thrown him for a loop, when she broke up with him, as had his best friend, Sam, when he decided to go into the grueling maesters program across the country. Jon just felt like he had to do something for himself. Robb gave him hell for running to the Wildlings. He just assumed Jon was chasing Ygritte, but that wasn’t the case. Jon chose to go with the Eastern Wildlings group, meaning he spent three months canoeing up past Eastwatch and climbing up mountains and sleeping in the cold after long, exhausting days. He never once thought about going with Ygritte’s rock climbing group – he went north to get away from his thoughts of her, not to immerse himself again in her life.

            Jon now looked over his glass at the girl who ordered him his drink. Sansa was biting back a smile while she drank her god-awful gin and tonic and Jon had never seen someone more beautiful. He always knew she was pretty, but never had he felt so intoxicated by her eyes, or was that just his fourth drink of the night? Regardless of whatever was going on in his head, an instinct took over him and Jon let his hands caress Sansa’s face before he impulsively leaned down to kiss her in between a sip of gin and tonic. Was it impulsive? He would be lying to himself if he said he barely cared about her. During his weeks away beyond the Wall he thought of her often, far more than he had while she was away at school. How much he had missed her – this was the thought in his head as he deepened the kiss, moving his body into hers.

            Sansa responded more than eagerly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into his body, now pressed up against hers. His hands went from her face to her lower back and then wrapped around her in a tight hug. She felt so warm, but maybe that was just the drink. It had been so long since she let herself kiss like this, let herself _be_ kissed like this. In the moment, she couldn’t even remember when the last time was – had she ever been kissed like this? Somewhere in the back of her mind she told herself to shut up and just kiss the gorgeous boy who tasted like beer, and smoke, and something sweet like cinnamon gum.

            The kiss ended and they found themselves back on the dance floor. The alcohol made them both feel dizzy, but they still maintained their dancing rhythm as they pulled the other close and moved together. Hands trailed all over the other this time; any pretense of restraint had been lost in the kiss. Now even Sansa moved more boldly than she ever had before, taking Jon aback in the most pleasant of ways. They remained like this for the rest of the night, without kissing again, but still exploring the other’s body with fingertips, warm lips, and nose nudges.

            A tap on the shoulder eventually brought Sansa out of the haze she shared with Jon. Margaery, smirking, stood there with a stunned Robb behind her. “Time to go,” she half-shouted over the music into Sansa’s ears. As though half asleep, Sansa didn’t move until Margaery grabbed her hand and tugged gently. The four of them, Theon having run off with some Dornish girl as usual, stumbled out of the club and down the street toward the Starks’ family home. Margaery and Sansa walked arm in arm down the street while Jon and Robb walked with a bit more stoicism. As they opened the door with a dramatic hush from Robb – Rickon was asleep! – their giddiness and antics quieted down to a suitable level. Margaery quickly and gracefully went upstairs to Sansa’s room, while Robb headed to his cave in the basement. Jon hesitated, standing awkwardly with his hand on the back of his neck. As Sansa turned toward the stairs, Jon grabbed her arm and pulled her into a quick kiss before following Robb without a word.

            Sansa bit back a smile – she couldn’t wait until the next time they were “just” dancing.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Work inspired by Sylvan Esso's song "Just Dancing." 
> 
> Thank you Cara and Megan for the input & guidance <3


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